July 6, 2016 - Westchester County Police used Project Lifesaver technology on Tuesday night, July 5, to find an elderly woman from Yonkers who had wandered away from home and into a heavily wooded area more than a mile from her house.
Under the Project Lifesaver program, individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia who have a history of wandering away are fitted with a special tracking bracelet. Specially trained and equipped county police officers are able to locate missing persons who are wearing the bracelet by tracing a radio signal that it emits.
“Project Lifesaver technology has helped county police officers save the lives of multiple people who might otherwise not have been located in time,” County Executive Robert P. Astorino said. “I urge anyone with a family member suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia to find out more about this invaluable program.”
Public Safety Commissioner George N. Longworth agreed, noting that the missing Yonkers woman was located as darkness fell on the wooded, hilly area where she was not visible to anyone on the street.
The Yonkers police notified Westchester County police at 5:38 p.m. on Tuesday that a 79-year-old resident who was enrolled in the Project Lifesaver program was missing. County police officers responded with a tracking canine and the Project Lifesaver technology.
County Police Officer Timothy Hicks and his tracking canine, a Bloodhound named Madison, picked up the woman’s scent near her home on Bushey Avenue and followed it to Tuckahoe Road. The canine track continued west on Tuckahoe Road, where county Police Officer Jeffrey Slotoroff, picked up a radio signal in the vicinity of Touissant Avenue using the Project Lifesaver technology.
The search team continued west and the signal became stronger in front of 999 Nepperhan Avenue, a Verizon substation. Westchester County and Yonkers officers searched the building but did not locate the missing woman.
From the roof of the building, Slotoroff determined that the signal was strongest when he pointed the PLS tracking equipment toward a wooded area adjacent to the substation. The hilly area is thick with vegetation and contains a 20-foot-tall concrete wall.
Westchester County and Yonkers officers entered the property from Dickinson Avenue and spread out to search of the woods. Slotoroff located the woman sitting on the ground adjacent to the concrete wall. She was conscious and did not appear to be injured.
The Yonkers Police Department Emergency Services Unit removed the woman from the difficult terrain and she was taken to St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers for further evaluation.
Project Lifesaver is sponsored by the Department of Senior Programs and Services and the Department of Public Safety in partnership with the Hudson Valley chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and Project Lifesaver International. For more information about Project Lifesaver, call the Alzheimer’s Association at (914) 253-6860 or send an e-mail to .
Yesterday’s successful search marked the 11th time that a missing Project Lifesaver client was located by officers from the Department of Public Safety and returned home safely since the program was implemented in August 2008.
“I want to thank Officers Hicks and Slotoroff, as well as numerous other officers from the Yonkers and Westchester County police departments, who participated in searching multiple streets and properties until this woman was found safe,” Longworth said. “More than three hours passed before the missing woman was located, and I applaud these officers for their perseverance and professionalism in bringing this search to a successful conclusion.”